Secret Lobbying: Petition hand in

In March this year, it was revealed that the Treasurer of the Conservative party Peter Cruddas had been trying to secure private dinner dates with  David Cameron, for large political donations to the Conservative party.

Lots of 38 Degrees members were outraged to hear about the sleazy way party officials were selling influential access to the Prime Minister to big money donors. David Cameron previously said that lobbying was the next big scandal waiting to happen! 38 Degrees members have been campaigning since April 2010 for an end to secret lobbying – so when the story about Peter Cruddas trying to sell access emerged, we launched a petition immediately.

Over 65,000 38 Degrees members signed up to our petition to end cash-for-access and secret lobbying, telling Government that we want to know who politicians are meeting with, what they’re discussing, and how much money is being spent.

This morning, some of the 38 Degrees office team, met up with some of our friends from Unlock Democracy, who have collected 7000 signatures to their open letter that also calls for an end to secret lobbying.  Loads of other organisations such as Spinwatch, Electoral Reform Society and the Open Rights Group have also signed up to the aims of the letter. Together, our efforts have produced a total of 74,000 responses!

It was great to go down to government offices in London today to hand them all in as submissions for the official consultation.  We’re all sending a clear message to the government: no more secret lobbying.

So now we just have to wait and see what plans the government brings forward to tackle the problem – will they be good enough?